Incoming prime minister Christopher Luxon has doubled down on his criticism of the Electoral Commission, calling the three-week wait for the final vote tally “frustrating”.

Tomorrow at 2pm will see the overall election result finally unveiled, taking into account the more than 567,000 special votes.

Speaking to reporters from Auckland, Luxon said he was “keen to get” clarity on the election outcome and would be “digesting” the results once they were made public. “I would like the Electoral Commission to process votes more quickly going forward. I’ve been using the time very constructively, professionally… we’ll look to move through and lock up agreements afterwards,” he said.

“I think there’s going to be a number of things we want to digest after the wash up of the result,” said Luxon when asked if he would look to change the law to speed up the vote count. He wouldn’t rule in or out removing the ability for voters to enrol on election day, which increases the overall number of special votes.

“We’ve got a number of MPs that won on the night that are in close races, so we’ll be watching out for them,” he said.

Luxon wouldn’t give a timeframe for the formation of the next government, but said “as soon as we get the result, we’ll look to progress our arrangements as quickly as we can”.

On policy issues, Luxon backtracked on comments made by his police spokesperson regarding gangs. While it remained National policy to outlaw gang patches, Luxon said Mark Mitchell was talking about the situation in Australia when he suggested intimidating facial tattoos may need to be covered by make-up.

“I’m focused on removing gang patches because Kiwis understand what that means, it’s about intimidation,” Luxon said today.

Looking forward to next week’s Pacific Island Forum, Luxon said he would like to be there. However, at this stage, Gerry Brownlee would accompany the outgoing deputy PM Carmel Sepuloni because of “his experience in foreign affairs”. Luxon said he was also hoping to attend the Apec summit in the United States this month, but was “beholden” to the MMP system and the vote count.

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A new Beatles music video directed by Sir Peter Jackson will be released on November 4.

It will accompany a new track, called Now and Then, which has been dubbed “the last Beatles song”.

“We wanted the music video to bring a few tears to the eye, but generating emotion using only archive footage is a tricky thing,” said Jackson. “Fortunately, the simple power of this beautiful song did a lot of the work for us. I have genuine pride in what we made, and I’ll cherish that for years to come.”

Ahead of that, a new 12-minute short film, which includes interviews with Sir Peter, has been released on YouTube and Disney+.

Production on a new feature film based on the Pike River mine tragedy has commenced in Greymouth.

The film, directed by Rob Sarkies (Out of the Blue, Scarfies) and written by Fiona Samuel (Consent: The Louise Nicholas Story), follows the aftermath of the Pike River mine explosion and has been developed in close collaboration with members of the victims’ families.

It intends to capture the “profound” impact on the community of one of the worst mining disasters in the country’s history, which killed 29 men.

“It has been a huge privilege to work closely with members of the Pike River families over the last five years as we prepare to share their story with Aotearoa New Zealand, and the rest of the world,” said Sarkies.

“We need films like this in the world to show what is possible when individuals take a stand against injustice. Ordinary people fighting against power, doing it in their own way, and having an impact.”

“Brain drink” brand Ārepa has been forced to publish a statement regarding “health claims” it has made about its products.

On its website, Ārepa confirms it received notice from NZ Food Safety related to claims made on product labelling. “Some of our health claims are in breach of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code,” the statement reads. “Health claims attributed to Enzogenol (pine bark extract) and L-theanine have not been substantiated.”

The company said it would would be removing or correcting the health claims in question from labels and advertisements.

Reporting from the Herald showed that Ārepa had previously downplayed any concerns raised about its products.

“There’s no major issue,” said co-founder Angus Brown. “It’s really just the interpretation of the code and how we’re using that on our on our packaging and our advertising, and there is interpretation within that … At no point has MPI ever come after the science.”

More than 350 creative artists from across Aotearoa are calling for the outgoing and incoming governments to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

The group, called Aotearoa Artists 4 Ceasefire, drafted the letter which has been shared with leaders of political parties, and has been signed by artists, musicians, actors and other creatives including Reb Fountain, Danielle Cormack, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Jemaine Clement, Chris Parker, Otis Frizzell, David Farrier, Moana Maniapoto, The Beths, Hinemoa Elder, Rob Ruha, Troy Kingi and Kate Elliot.

The letter, titled, “Aotearoa Artists Call”, stated: “We come together as artists in the creative sector in Aotearoa, New Zealand to appeal to the acting and incoming New Zealand governments to make an unequivocal call for:

• An immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
• An end to violence against all civilians, regardless of their identity.
• Immediate unimpeded humanitarian aid access in and out of Gaza and The West Bank, including such necessities of life as food, water, fuel and medical supplies.”

It comes as Israeli air strikes targeted Jabalia, Gaza’s largest refugee camp, for the second time in the last two days. More than 50 people were killed in the first strike according to Gaza authorities and and the director of the Indonesian Hospital which treated cases, and “dozens of people were killed and wounded” in the second attack.

Israel has said that they killed a Hamas commander in the first strike of the refugee camp. The UN Human Rights office has said Israeli strikes on the camp might represent a “disproportionate” attack that “could amount to war crimes”, reports Al Jazeera.

In a statement, musician and signatory to the letter, Reb Fountain said, “We unite in solidarity to call on our government to act on our behalf, to promote peace and stop the murder of innocent civilians. Being on the right side of history will never atone for allowing the suffering of others to continue but it can help to stop it and escalating global insecurity. Now is the time for courage not complacency, action not apathy and compassion not killing”.

Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has continued for more than two weeks in response to Hamas’s October 7 attack in which the militant group killed 1,400 people in Israel, and took 222 hostages, according to Israeli officials. Israeli forces have since killed more than 8,000 people in Gaza and more than 100 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian officials.

Demonstrations calling for a ceasefire have been attended by thousands of New Zealanders across the country over the last three weeks, with more demonstrations planned this weekend. Both Te Pāti Māori and The Green Party have backed the call. The Spinoff is also aware of another letter calling for a ceasfire that has been signed by more than 500 artists over the past three days.

Over the weekend, the outgoing Labour Government alongside the incoming National Party government, decided New Zealand would vote for a resolution in the United Nations General Assembly calling for a sustained humanitarian truce “leading to a cessation of hostilities”. Close partners of New Zealand, including Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan abstained from voting, while the US voted against it. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has since said a ceasefire is not a “realistic prospect”.

Similar open letters urging for a call for a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel have been signed by prominent artists in the entertainment industry in the US and UK.  The signatories on these include names such as Joaquin Phoenix, Tilda Swinton, Cate Blanchett, Dua Lipa, Jon Stewart, Kristen Stewart and Susan Sarandon.

New Zealand artists and creative practitioners are being encouraged to co-sign the letter at the Aotearoa Artists 4 Ceasefire website.

The relative period of political quiet ends tomorrow afternoon when the special vote count and final election results are released. Both incoming prime minister Christopher Luxon and NZ First leader Winston Peters have said the formation of the government could happen quickly after the count is released. But could the special vote count be sped up?

While the rationale for it taking three weeks has been well-explained, Luxon reiterated his view that that was too long yesterday, signalling he would look to update the law once he was in government. Graeme Edgeler (author of the well-explained explainer on special votes) says Luxon’s suggestion of speeding up the final vote count is unfair, but daily count updates could work.

In satirically important news, comedian Tom Sainsbury, who is known for his online impressions of politicians, says he’s struggling with his Snapchat impression of Luxon, describing attempts to date as “monstrous”.

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Staff at the online grocer Supie will receive their final pay cheque after an “anonymous and substantial cash contribution” to one of the company’s administrators.

It was announced earlier in the week that Supie, which had launched as a competitor to the supermarket duopoly, had gone into voluntary administration after a major investor pulled funding. At the time, it was believed customers that had outstanding orders, along with staff members, would lose out.

But in a statement published last night to the PWC website, there was some good news. “This cash contribution was provided on the basis that the full amount is used to pay the employees of the Supie Group of Companies,” the statement read. “The Administrators expect to be able to pay a substantial portion of all outstanding gross wages and salaries for all staff.”

However, it’s noted that oustanding holiday pay and “other claims” may remain unpaid. “The Administrators expect to make the distribution towards outstanding wages and salaries early next week.”

A recent Consumer survey revealed that Supie was often the cheapest option for recreating at-home takeaway options and it was hoped the company would be able to expand into other parts of the country.

Newsroom has published an investigation into Supie’s final days and the “cashflow crisis” that led to the company’s fall.